Adventures Around The World

One of the highlights of our time on Raymond Island in Australia was enjoying an enchida browsing around for a late lunch (enchidas and platypuses are the only living mammals that lay eggs). We must have spent 30 minutes just watching this guy waddle around and sniff around in the dirt. -S 🇦🇺

Here’s a short clip:

It’s been a bit since we posted the first part of our drive on the Great Ocean Road, but here’s the second half—the portion that includes the famed Twelve Apostles and other sea stacks.

While we enjoyed the stops we made along this stretch—though unfortunately, some of the spots we were most excited about were closed—it was also quite crowded. Very, very crowded. We also found it funny that there were lots of “Australia drives on the left side of the road” signs as reminders for all the tourists. -S 🇦🇺

We rented a Euro Mini campervan from Apollo, picking up in Sydney and dropping off in Melbourne. We wanted something small and generally parkable, but also fully self-contained, a requirement to boondock in Australia.

Overall, the vehicle worked fine for us. After two months of hot weather, we loved having the AC at night. Because it only works when on shore power, we sought out powered sites for all but one night of the trip. The bed length was a bit cramped, and the process of tucking in the sheet was frustrating. However, we enjoyed having a large dinette table, and the rest of the vehicle was fine. We never made use of the shower or toilet or even the sink or stove. I guess we’re just too used to not having those things that we easily make due without them.

While the vehicle came with most everything you’d need (including some actual appliances for when you were plugged in, like a microwave, toaster, blender, and hairdryer), we quickly added a few additional items: a better pillow, some doormats, sponges, insulated cups, as well as other camping supplies like paper towels and trash bags, in addition to food and drinks.

Overall, the campervan was one of the highlights of the trip, if only because it offered the freedom to explore that we’re used to and hadn’t enjoyed for most of the trip.

For those that requested one, here’s a quick video walk-through of the van:

We enjoyed our campervanning time so much that we adopted a quest to circumnavigate the continent in one—in sections, of course.

It’s our last night in the campervan, and it sorta feels like the last night of the trip, too. But we still have two nights in Melbourne, followed by a full week in French Polynesia.

We spent an hour or two sitting outside, gazing up at the incredible starscape late last night in Grampians National Park, talking a bit about the trip so far.

One of the questions we asked each other was, at this late stage of our epic trip, how much longer could we go in the campervan? Jen said another two weeks, depending on pace, while I said a solid month.

This portion of the trip has been the most comfortable, in part because Australia is quite like America. But also because this kind of travel—roadtripping the national parks—is our jam. We’re just doing it while driving on the other side of the road, seeing unusual wildlife, and sleeping in a campervan and not our Subaru or a tent.

We’ve thought a lot about acquiring such a vehicle for domestic travel over the last several years, but never came to a solid conclusion on if it would be worth the cost over simply tent camping and/or hoteling it. In most of our scenarios, it probably wasn’t. Still, there’s something very appealing about campervan travel, and I think the ease and relative luxury(?) of it would assist us in getting out of town more often.

But with job uncertainty looming, especially around schedule flexibility, we think it’s probably best to see how the year plays out. But that doesn’t mean we won’t constantly discuss, strategize, fantasize, research, and consider in the meanwhile. -S 🇦🇺

We started our first of two days driving the scenic Great Ocean Road, often regarded as one of the world’s best coastal highways, and one of the most remarkable war memorials, too.

A largely community-driven project, it served numerous purposes: a memorial to the fallen (Australia experienced the highest casualty rate of any nation in the Great War), an employment project for returning soldiers who needed work, and a way to connect isolated coastal communities and opening up the coast for tourism and development. And of course, it’s also quite scenic, offering some great coastal views (similar to the Pacific Coast Highway in the US) and plenty of beach access too. I bet this place is really hopping on good weather days—the water is much bluer than you’d expect.

Unfortunately, we caught much of it on a rainy day, and had no plans to swim anyway. So much of our visit was simply driving through, pulling off at numerous pull-offs and viewpoints, and generally enjoying the scenery.

Kennett River Nature Walk

Along the drive, there’s a popular short nature walk, bounded by local backyards on one side and a small river on the other, where you can often spot wild koalas. We had an incredible koala experience yesterday at Raymond Island (more photos of that soon), but we wanted to check out this little trail as well. While there were fewer koalas to be seen today, we still managed to find some.

I also really enjoy these laughing kookaburras, so between koala-spotting in the trees, I had my eyes out for sightings of these guys, too.

These cormorants near the start of the trail looked quite grumpy.

We also managed to have lunch at a brewery, and dinner at a brewhouse. Go figure, huh?

We have a number of additional stops planned for tomorrow, and hope to get as far as South Australia before we begin heading back towards Melbourne, where we return our campervan and fly to Tahiti. -S 🇦🇺

Australia’s Parliament House is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The unique building, opened in 1988, has two large curved walls, separating the building into four quadrants with grass covering parts of the roof. Interestingly, instead of towering above the ground like most capital buildings, this one seems to emerge from the ground…its intended design. -J 🇦🇺